Dietary diversity of reproductive age women in three south-eastern states of Nigeria

Malnutrition has been an important public health problem in developing countries, especially among women of reproductive age. Dietary diversity and favorable nutritional status have been demonstrated to have a relationship with the quality of diets. Diets that are low in fat and sugars and rich in fruits, vegetables, and wholegrain foods may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases. Information on dietary intakes and dietary diversity of women across Nigeria is scarce. This study was conducted to assess dietary diversity, of diets of women of reproductive age in the South-eastern States of Nigeria. This study was descriptive cross-sectional in design with a four-stage sampling technique used to select women of reproductive age from three of the five states in the South-eastern States of Nigeria. Three Local Government Areas were randomly selected from the three senatorial districts of each state. From the nine Local Government Areas, 36 rural and 18 urban communities were randomly selected. A total of 1200 women of reproductive age 15-50 years participated in the study after giving informed consent. A pretested semistructured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Multiple 24-hour diet recall, weight and height measurements were conducted. The nutritional status of the respondents was assessed with the use of anthropometric indices, weight (kg) and height (m) to estimate the Body Mass Index (BMI), which was classified as underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal (18.5-24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25.0- 29.9 kg/m2) and obese (≥30.0 kg/m2). Dietary diversity was determined using a 14 food-group dietary diversity tool and terciles were created to categorize individual dietary diversity (low: 1-4; average: 5-9; high: 10-14). The mean age of women participants was 28.2 ± 5.6 years and BMI was 26.8 ± 4.8 kg/m2. Most (96.3%) women of reproductive age were married; 41.7% were traders while 54.9% completed secondary school education. Overall Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) was 7.0 ± 1.8 and 7.6% scored low, 84.6% average, and 7.8% high. Overall DDS in the three states were similar (p>0.05), however, the percentage with the low score was significantly higher in the rural sector (9.8%) compared to the urban sector (3.0%). Average dietary diversity found in these states indicates the average variety in dietary intake. Therefore, to enhance dietary diversity in Nigeria, public health messages should encourage and emphasize the production and consumption of diverse foods.&nbsp

Nutritional knowledge, fruits and vegetables consumption patterns, among undergraduates students of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo (AEFUNAI)

Background: Eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables each day is associated with the reduction in the risk of chronic diseases. There is paucity of data on the patterns of fruits and vegetables consumption among students in Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo (AEFUNAI). Objective of the study: The study aimed at assessing nutrition knowledge, fruits and vegetables consumption patterns among students of AEFUNAI. Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 470 students aged (17-27 years) (234 males and 236 females) participated in this study. A semi-structured pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on height, weight, socio-demographic profile, nutritional knowledge, fruits and vegetables consumption pattern. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square. Statistical significance was determined at 5% level (P <0.05). Results: About 88.7% of the respondents were in the age range of 17 – 24 years. Mean age and BMI of males were 21.72 ± 2.80 years and 22.15 ±2.42 kg/m2 while those of females were 20.64 ±2.12 years and 23.2±3.5 kg/m2 respectively. About 92 % of the respondents had a good knowledge about the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables. More females than males consumed fruits always or sometimes but the differences were not significant (p>0.05). About 70.9% and 76.0% of the respondents did not have any idea about the minimum daily recommendation of fruits and vegetables respectively. Commonly consumed fruits were watermelon, apples, banana and orange while fruited pumpkin, carrot, bitter leaf and cucumber were the commonly consumed vegetables. Variables such as availability and price significantly (p<0.05) hindered the students’ fruit and vegetable intake. Conclusions: Results of this study suggest inadequate Fruits and Vegetables consumption among students of AEFUNAI. Cost and availability appears to be the major hindrance to adequate consumption of Fruits and Vegetables among students of AEFUNAI